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Federal Law Enforcement Helps
To Tackle Expanding Gang Problem

By

John R. Emshwiller

Updated Oct. 16, 2008 12:01 a.m. ET

Federal and local officers swooped into the popular vacation spot of Santa Barbara, Calif., Wednesday to arrest nine alleged members of a Hispanic street gang, as law enforcement tries to tackle a gang problem that has been expanding from urban settings to less-populated areas.

The arrests were part of an indictment unsealed Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court against 28 alleged members of the Santa Barbara gang, known as the...